Psychometric evaluation of the regulatory emotional self-efficacy scale in China: evidence for a bifactor approach

The Regulatory Emotional Self-Efficacy (RESE) scale is widely recognized as a robust instrument for measuring emotion regulation, a construct that is critical for mediating psychosocial functioning and psychological well-being. However, prior factor analytic studies have yielded inconsistent findings regarding its latent structure across different cultural contexts, leading to debates over its internal dimensions. This study aims to determine the most appropriate factor structure of the RESE scale within a Chinese population to reconcile these structural discrepancies and enhance its cross-cultural applicability. We employed a rigorous psychometric approach using both exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), alongside an innovative bifactor modeling approach. Data were collected from a large, geographically diverse sample of over one thousand Chinese participants recruited from 32 major cities, encompassing both adolescent and adult populations to ensure broad representativeness. The total sample was randomly split into independent sub-samples to systematically test existing frameworks and validate novel structural patterns through comparative model testing. Model comparisons demonstrated that the latent structure of the RESE scale is best represented by a bifactor structure rather than traditional correlated-factor or unidimensional models. This structure effectively distinguishes a dominant general factor of emotion regulation from three distinct, specific subdimensions: expressing positive emotions, managing despondency/distress, and regulating anger/irritation. The analysis revealed that the bifactor model provides a superior fit to the empirical data by more accurately partitioning the common and specific variance, thereby clarifying the interplay between global and specific efficacy beliefs. The findings indicate that the RESE scale is primarily a unidimensional measure with specific subfactors, where the general factor accounts for the majority of the reliable variance. This study provides a fresh perspective on the scale’s inherent structure and strongly supports the use of a total score for a comprehensive assessment of emotion regulation in Chinese contexts. These results bridge the structural gap between Western-developed instruments and Eastern cultural applications, providing a robust, validated tool for future research and clinical practice.